Enewsletter

"The war cry has
been 'all or nothing' with the almost inevitable
result being nothing." -Henry Spira (quoted in Ryder's, Animal
Revolution, 2000, p202)

How Why Vegan? Changed My Life

In the few days of summer left before the start
of my junior year of high school, I happened
upon a table set up by Northwest Animal Rights
Network outside of Bumbershoot (the Seattle
Arts Festival). For some reason still unknown
to even myself, I stopped by and was given a
Why Vegan?

(Let me tell you that at this time, there had
been a bumper sticker on my van that read: "Vegetarian:
Primitive Word for ‘Lousy Hunter’."
Previous to this, I had tormented my younger
niece since she had become vegetarian at eight
years old. I had even made fun of my vegetarian
girlfriend.)

When I was walking toward the car with some
of my friends, they tried to take the literature
from me and throw it on the ground. But I held
it firmly in my hands. That evening, I sat at
home reading through the Why Vegan?
It disturbed me, and at first I thought, "Perhaps
I will eventually stop eating meat." As
I read more and more of it, I resolved to go
vegetarian sooner, until I got to the end. With
tears running down my cheeks from seeing the
horrible images and reading about the truth
of how animals are treated, I decided that I
was vegan.

I excitedly told my girlfriend (who was at
first shocked and then jealous that I "out-vegged"
her). I scratched off every word except "vegetarian"
from my bumper sticker. Over the next few weeks,
I was afraid to tell my dad or my friends, but
after a while of not eating any of the dishes
my dad made, he asked why I wasn't eating. I
finally told him I had gone vegan. He eventually
went vegan, too!

My vegetarian niece became vegan, my girlfriend
became vegan, one of my friends who used to
make fun of me has gone vegan, and since my
dad remarried, my stepmom is nearly vegan. My
mom learned to make vegan food for me. My stepdad
had a heart attack recently, and his doctor
advised him to give up almost all meat and dairy.
So he eats an almost completely vegan diet,
and I help him with food recommendations and
nutrition information.

Now my girlfriend and I co-coordinate the Tacoma,
Washington-based animal rights group -- Tacoma
Veggies -- and the University of Puget Sound
campus group, UPSTART. Picking up that Why
Vegan? has profoundly changed
my life, and the lives of those around me, and
I wonder what might have happened if I hadn't
gone by that table.

The moral of the story: One person CAN make
a difference.

BS, WA, 5/27/04

Support Viva!USA and Vegan Outreach by Eating
Great Vegan Food!

NV Vegetarian Restaurant is holding another
benefit for Viva!USA and Vegan Outreach. The
food is typical of many Buddhist vegetarian
restaurants and reasonably priced. We want to
make sure we support one of the only vegetarian
restaurants in the Sacramento area. On Thursday,
June 24, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM, NV will split
20% of all sales between Viva!USA and Vegan
Outreach. This is a great way to enjoy some
excellent food and donate to animal rights groups!

Because they want to be prepared for whatever
crowd may show up, please
RSVP to us beforehand if you know
you will be attending. Please be aware that
last
time, most everyone came at once
so there was kind of a long wait. That could
possibly happen again – but the company
during any wait will be worth it. : )

Matt Ball Talk / Chicago EarthSave potluck
Sunday, June 27th

Would you like to be a more effective advocate
for animals? Or, are you simply interested in
moving closer towards a vegan diet? Come to
EarthSave Chicago's June potluck and hear Vegan
Outreach co-founder Matt
Ball -- along with Anne & Ellen
Green, Joe Espinosa, Jon Camp, Nick Altmann,
Danielle Marino, and others talk about reducing
suffering in the world, why we should promote
vegetarianism, humor, and much more!

"Friedrich
said Monday that appearing on the show is outside
his comfort zone, but that he's doing it because
he believes 'animals deserve to have their interests
considered. I do appreciate the opportunity
to be a face for animal rights, a face for PETA,
and a face for compassion for all animals.'"

Ten Seconds to Feed Animals

The
Animal Rescue Site is having trouble
getting enough people to click on it daily to
meet their quota of getting free food donated
every day to abused and neglected animals. It
takes less than 10 seconds to go
to their site and click on "feed
an animal in need" for free. This doesn't
cost you a thing (and they don't ask for your
email address).

Member Feedback

[While leafleting, a] young DePaul student
came up to me and let me know that she had picked
up a Why Vegan? at a college feed-in
a few months back, and she subsequently got
back into vegetarianism because of the brochure
(she had been veg before, but had given it up).
Moreover, she said that her friend decided to
try going veg that day as well; they have both
been veg since! Two more individuals that have
been influenced by the Adopt
A College program! Kudos to Danielle
Marino on this list for initially setting up
that feed-in!-Jon Camp

Please, if it is at all possible, pass along
to the author of the story of "How Why
Vegan Changed My Life" which ran in
the e-newsletter
on 6/2/04 ("SC, Canada, 5/27/04")
how excited I was to read his/her story. It
is my story, too! Thanks to Vegan Outreach,
I have finally come into my own true self and
have found my work & purpose. I was delighted
to see myself mirrored in this wonderful story.
Thank you!-KJ

Vegan Outreach is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the suffering of farmed animals by promoting informed, ethical eating.